NEW DELHI: Mint Butterfield, the missing child of Slack’s co-founder, was found in San Francisco on Saturday night, accompanied by an adult man who is ten years their senior and is now facing kidnapping charges.
The 16-year-old was discovered with Christopher “Kio” Dizefalo, 26, as reported by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, following the disappearance of the teenager, who identifies as non-binary and prefers they/them pronouns, from their residence in Bolinas last week.
Dizefalo, described by the sheriff as an “adult friend,” was arrested and booked at Marin County Jail on suspicion of child abduction and other violations, arrest records obtained by the San Francisco Standard. He was in custody on bail amounting to $50,000, as New York Post reported.
The parking valet was discovered with Mint inside his white van on Eddy Street in the city’s notoriously dangerous Tenderloin District neighborhood according to booking records.
Mint — who was deemed “at-risk” due to previous threats of suicide — was uninjured.
They informed the detectives that they had chosen to leave their Bolinas home on their own accord and have now been reunited with their family.
The Standard reported that Dizefalo is suspected of coaxing the teen to run away.
Mint’s parents, Stewart Butterfield — who co-founded the instant messaging app Slack before selling it to Salesforce in 2020 — and Caterina Fake — who co-founded the photo-sharing app Flickr, thanked investigators for bringing their child home.
“A heartfelt thanks to all the family, friends, volunteers and strangers who called in tips and made this recovery possible,” their parents and stepfather, fellow tech founder Jyri Engeström, stated in an email to the Standard and other local outlets. “We especially want to thank the seasoned law enforcement officers who understand the very real threat of predators who use the allure of drugs to groom teenagers.”
Mint was last seen in Bolinas on the night of April 21 and was reported missing by their mother the following morning.
The teenager supposedly left a note to inform their parents that they had planned to run away before being discovered with Dizefalo this week.
Authorities believed that Mint had been in the Tenderloin neighborhood because Mint was known to frequent the area before running away from home, as confirmed by the police.
The 16-year-old was discovered with Christopher “Kio” Dizefalo, 26, as reported by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, following the disappearance of the teenager, who identifies as non-binary and prefers they/them pronouns, from their residence in Bolinas last week.
Dizefalo, described by the sheriff as an “adult friend,” was arrested and booked at Marin County Jail on suspicion of child abduction and other violations, arrest records obtained by the San Francisco Standard. He was in custody on bail amounting to $50,000, as New York Post reported.
The parking valet was discovered with Mint inside his white van on Eddy Street in the city’s notoriously dangerous Tenderloin District neighborhood according to booking records.
Mint — who was deemed “at-risk” due to previous threats of suicide — was uninjured.
They informed the detectives that they had chosen to leave their Bolinas home on their own accord and have now been reunited with their family.
The Standard reported that Dizefalo is suspected of coaxing the teen to run away.
Mint’s parents, Stewart Butterfield — who co-founded the instant messaging app Slack before selling it to Salesforce in 2020 — and Caterina Fake — who co-founded the photo-sharing app Flickr, thanked investigators for bringing their child home.
“A heartfelt thanks to all the family, friends, volunteers and strangers who called in tips and made this recovery possible,” their parents and stepfather, fellow tech founder Jyri Engeström, stated in an email to the Standard and other local outlets. “We especially want to thank the seasoned law enforcement officers who understand the very real threat of predators who use the allure of drugs to groom teenagers.”
Mint was last seen in Bolinas on the night of April 21 and was reported missing by their mother the following morning.
The teenager supposedly left a note to inform their parents that they had planned to run away before being discovered with Dizefalo this week.
Authorities believed that Mint had been in the Tenderloin neighborhood because Mint was known to frequent the area before running away from home, as confirmed by the police.